A Newport-Mesa Unified teacher is “no longer in the classroom” after a social media post about her removing the U.S. flag and suggesting students instead pledge allegiance to a pride flag went viral, causing an uproar in the school community.
“We are aware that one of our teachers posted a video on their personal social media that caused alarm and concern related to saluting the American flag,” district officials said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “Showing respect for our nation’s flag is an important value that we instill in our students and an expectation of our employees. The teacher is no longer in the classroom.”
“We follow due process and our investigation continues,” it said.
District sources confirmed the woman in the now-deleted TikTok post is Kristin Pitzen, a teacher at Back Bay High School.
In the post, Pitzen appears to be filming from inside her own classroom.
“Okay, so during third period, we have announcements and they do the Pledge of Allegiance,” Pitzen says in the video. “I always tell my class: stand if you feel like it. Don’t stand like if you feel like it. Say the words if you want. You don’t have to say the words. So, my class decided to stand, but not say the words. Totally fine. Except for the fact that my room does not have a flag.”
Pitzen then points to the corner of her classroom’s whiteboard, indicating that is where the flag used to be located. She then says she took down the flag while she was teaching during the pandemic,...
Read Full Story: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2021-08-30/newport-mesa-unified-school-district-teacher-under-fire-for-social-media-post-rejecting-flag
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